Lesson 4 — The enforcement ladder, and why it is not automatic
Annex 1 sets out six procedures on a timeline counted from the due date. It is widely taught as an automatic, size-blind escalation. It is neither, and the conditions are the part a compliance officer actually needs.
| Day | Procedure | Which establishments |
|---|---|---|
| From the due date until payment is proven | Electronic monitoring of the establishment to ensure compliance | All establishments |
| From the second day following the due date, until payment is proven or the next step is taken | Notifications and alerts to pay wages | Non-compliant establishments |
| On the fifth day following the due date | Issuance of new work permits suspended, with notice to the owner of the reason and a warning to pay | Non-compliant establishments |
| On the eleventh day following the due date | The administrative fine under Cabinet Resolution 21/2020, and reclassification into the Third Category under Ministerial Resolution 209/2022 | Non-compliant establishments in the event of a repeated violation within six months |
| On the sixteenth day following the due date | Automatic registration of an individual or collective labour dispute for the affected workers, as the case may be; and suspension of the issuance of work permits for the targeted establishments | Non-compliant establishments employing 25 workers or more; or establishments under common ownership where 25 or more workers in total are unpaid and the activity falls within construction, transport and storage, security services, cleaning services, recruitment agencies or domestic-worker recruitment offices |
| On the twenty-first day following the due date | An executive instrument for payment in establishments with fewer than 50 workers, or collective labour dispute registration procedures at 50 workers or more; precautionary attachment against the establishment; a travel ban on the person in charge; notification of the Public Prosecution and competent authorities | Establishments exceeding 50 workers on a repeated violation within two consecutive months; or commonly-owned establishments where 50 or more workers are unpaid in those same sectors; or any size of establishment where there is a risk to the stability and regularity of the labour market |
Source: MR 340/2026 Art. 3 and Annex 1.
Read the right-hand column before the middle one. Rows 1 to 3 reach any non-compliant establishment. From row 4 onwards every row carries a condition, and secondary summaries almost always drop it.
- Day 11 is not a first-offence consequence. The fine and the Third-Category reclassification are targeted at non-compliant establishments "in the event of a repeated violation within six months". One late month does not, on the face of Annex 1, produce either of them.
- Day 16 has two limbs, and the sector list belongs to the second. The first limb is keyed to a worker count of 25 or more, in all sectors, as per the Ministry's applicable regulations. The named sectors — construction, transport and storage, security services, cleaning services, recruitment agencies and domestic-worker recruitment offices — appear in the second limb, which aggregates unpaid workers across establishments held by the same owner. Do not read the sector list as a shield: an establishment of 25 workers outside those sectors still sits inside the first limb.
- Day 21 is conditional three ways. More than 50 workers with a repeated violation within two consecutive months; or 50 or more unpaid workers across commonly-owned establishments in those same sectors; or, and this is the limb with no threshold at all, any size of establishment where there is a risk relating to the stability and regularity of the labour market.
- Ownership is aggregated, not only headcount. Rows 5 and 6 both count unpaid workers across establishments owned by the same employer or employers, taking unity of ownership into account. A group that holds five small companies does not thereby hold five small exposures.
The two instruments named on day 11 are not this resolution. The administrative fine is the one prescribed under Cabinet Resolution 21/2020 concerning service fees and administrative fines at the Ministry, and the reclassification into the Third Category is under Ministerial Resolution 209/2022. MR 340/2026 points at both rather than restating them, so the amounts and the classification consequences live in those instruments and are amended there, not here. MISSING FACT: the amount of the administrative fine prescribed by Cabinet Resolution 21/2020 for delayed wage payment, taken from the current consolidated text of that Resolution.
The worked example. August 2026 wages, due 1 September 2026, still unpaid.
| Date | Day counted from the due date | What Annex 1 provides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 September 2026 | The due date | Electronic monitoring begins |
| 3 September 2026 | Second day following | Notifications and alerts |
| 6 September 2026 | Fifth day following | New work permits suspended |
| 12 September 2026 | Eleventh day following | Fine and Third-Category reclassification, if this is a repeat within six months |
| 17 September 2026 | Sixteenth day following | Labour dispute registered and permits suspended, if the establishment falls inside row 5 |
| 22 September 2026 | Twenty-first day following | Executive instrument or collective dispute, attachment, travel ban and Public Prosecution, if the establishment falls inside row 6 |
In Odoone. Where a period is non-compliant, the assessment banner states where the establishment sits on the Annex 1 ladder, counted in days past the due date, and what happens at that step. Treat it as a diary rather than a verdict: the module knows the day count, and only you know whether this is a repeat within six months and which sector your licensed activity falls under.
The failure mode. Planning around "we have eleven days" is the error. Rows 1 to 3 bite in the first week regardless of size or history, and suspending the issuance of new work permits on day 5 stops hiring, visa transfers and renewals long before any fine is discussed.